Bharat Forge net profit up by 46 percent for 2014-15

Bharat Forge Ltd on Wednesday said cost efficiency and productivity improvement helped it score a net consolidated profit of Rs.763.59 crore for 2014-15 - a rise of 46 percent against Rs.525.07 crore in 2013-14.

While net consolidated revenues posted a strong growth of 13.53 percent at Rs.7,624.75 crore for the period under review compared to Rs.6,715.84 crore in 2013-14, the company strengthened its core forgings business which rose by 18.81 percent.

"Operational performance during the year was excellent, driven by productivity improvement, cost efficiency and sweating of assets. Financial parameters improved across the board and this coupled with strong free cash generations resulted in net debt reduction," said company's chairman and managing director, B.N. Kalyani.

According to him, on the business front, strong market share gain in the North American truck market, new customer additions in US and Europe, coupled with the entry into the premium aerospace segment with four marquee customer contracts capped off a strong year for the company.

Its net revenue for 2014-15 from Indian operations rose by 3.17 percent at Rs.2,420.35 crore against Rs.2,346.07 crore during the previous fiscal. The contribution to net revenue from clients based out of India accounted for Rs.5,204.40 crore - a rise of 19.1 percent compared to Rs.4,369.77 crore in 2013-14.

During the fiscal, one of its subsidiaries, Kalyani Alstom Power Ltd was amalgamated with Alstom Bharat Forge Ltd, resulting in a Rs.9.15 crore profit reflected in the consolidated results for the period under review.

In a statement, the company said in 2014-15, the domestic automotive market grew for the first time in three years as total production increased by 3.4 percent as compared to 2013-14.

It said total medium and heavy commercial vehicles volumes during 2014-15 stood at 268,553 - a 21 percent increase in volumes as compared to 2013-14.

During 2015's first three months, the company's net profit climbed steeply by 70.77 percent at Rs.203.18 crore against Rs.118.98 crore in the year-ago period.

In this timeframe, net revenues also increased substantially by 31.53 percent at Rs.1,223.89 crore against Rs.930.52 crore during January-March 2014.

"As we enter into the fiscal year 2016, we are witnessing growth in both commercial and passenger vehicle segment across our key markets. However, industrial sectors are witnessing mixed fortunes due to the sudden slowdown in oil and gas markets and resultant impact on other industrial sectors. Mining continues to be sluggish as well," Kalyani said.